VIDEO: Why we need men to be nurses

Nursing remains a stubbornly gender-bound profession. Although some long-held gender disparities are eroding — more than a third of U.S. doctors are now women, up from just 17 percent in 1990 — the percentage of men in nursing is much smaller, with just one male nurse for every 9.5 female nurses.

Blake Smith, a registered nurse and the incoming president of the American Association for Men in Nursing, believes it's time for this to change. At a time that some male-dominated professions are shrinking, nursing is booming, promising rewarding, well-paying jobs that allow men to provide for their families and contribute to their communities. In an interview with POLITICO, Smith, a former football player and soccer coach, says that men should start thinking about nurses as coaches or advocates, skills that are a natural match for many men. With the country's demand for nurses exploding, he says, America needs more men to get off the sidelines and put on scrubs.